Mumbai: A 36-year-old navy commander lost Rs 77.53 lakh to cyber cons who fleeced him on the pretext of 600% return on investment in share market. In his complaint lodged at the Cuffe Parade police station on May 23, the navy official said that he came across the deceptive post on Instagram on January 31.
The Colaba resident further said that the post talked about “600% profit plan” on investing through 'Back Rock' account. Enticed by the offer, he clicked on the advertisement link and the fraudster added him to a WhatsApp group, where the members daily posted tips about share market trading. Few of them also posted screenshots of their 'profits'.
On March 1, the admin asked the victim to download 'Provex' app and make 'investments' through it. Unsuspecting, he complied and a 5% 'profit' also reflected in the app's account. Subsequently, he pumped more money as per the fraudster's instructions.
However, on May 10, the app suddenly closed. The victim contacted the group admin, who asked him to transfer Rs5 lakh to restart the app and withdraw his 'earnings'. Once again, the navy official trusted the con and made the payment. In this manner, he paid Rs77.53 lakh between March 1 and May 4.
Even when the victim expressed financial inability to 'invest' more, the fraudster asked to arrange for money. He then confided in a friend, who finally made him realise that it was a fraud.
